This invention relates to improvements to devices for holding, storing, presenting and facilitating the dispensing of substances from tubes such as those in which many substances are sold today. This invention relates particularly but not exclusively to use with toothpaste from a tube and it will be convenient to describe the invention with reference to this example application. However, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is capable of much broader application. It can be applied to the use of other substances presented to the consumer in tubes, e.g. skin cream, hair gel and the like.
Tubes of toothpaste are well known in everyday life and have been widely extant because the tube is such an economical method of packaging. There are, however, a number of difficulties associated with the use of tubes in the actual dispensing process that previous devices and manufacturing processes have failed to eliminate. Primary of these is the necessity of having to locate and retrieve the tube for each use. Often the tube is placed in a drawer, a cabinet or some other storage place and must be located and removed with each use. Alternatively, the tube is left within view and, as its contents are used, the tube becomes dented, twisted, and otherwise unsightly. Another difficulty is that the cap on the tube needs to be removed or flipped open and then replaced or flipped closed with each use. Although the flip-top cap makes it easier to dispense, it often becomes clogged with paste and cannot be easily closed, resulting in paste continuing to flow after the tube has been put away. Also, as the toothpaste is used up, pressing the tube causes some of the paste to flow upward in the tube rather than toward the dispensing end. Inevitably, one is forced to consolidate the paste toward the dispensing end of the tube by starting at the tail of the tube and squeezing continuously downward. Finally, try as one might, it is almost impossible to remove for use all the toothpaste in the tube: There is usually a significant bit within the shoulder of the tube that is most difficult to expel without using two hands.
Many contrivances have been devised to ameliorate these disadvantages, yet they remain. Many of these devices have been too expensive to manufacture and the consumer is unwilling to pay a high a price for the ridding of these nuisances. Some devices are too bulky, clumsy and unappealing. Other devices, such as those that mechanically roll or slide down the tube are often messy, expelling paste when not intended. Attempting to resolve these difficulties at the tube design and manufacturing stages have also been mostly unsuccessful, resulting at best with a tube with oversized cap that can stand but is easily knocked over. Some designs have been made for tubes with self-closing seals, but these have not been widely accepted and require the self-closing mechanism to be applied during the manufacturing process for each tube.
These difficulties are overcome in the present invention that provides a tube organizer and dispensing aid.
In one form of the invention, this tube organizer and dispensing aid, or toda, is comprised of a base for mounting to a support surface, a universal removable nozzle for regulating the flow of the substance and a consolidator for maintaining the bulk of substance toward the dispensing end of the tube.
In another form of the invention, this toda is comprised of a base for mounting to a support surface, a universal seat into which a tube can be screwed and secured, an internal channel for transporting the substance to the dispensing aperture, a self-closing valve on the dispensing aperture, and a consolidator slide for expelling the substance from the tube.
This invention relates to generally to the field of devices for holding, organizing, presenting and aiding in the dispensing of flowable substances from flexible tubes in which they are stored. This xe2x80x9ctodaxe2x80x9d is comprised of a base for mounting to a support surface, a dispensing nozzle for regulating the flow of the flowable substance and a consolidator for maintaining the bulk of flowable substance toward the dispensing end of the tube.
The dispensing nozzle for dispensing a flowable material from a tube has a dispensing aperture; the nozzle having an inlet, an outlet and a bore there between and connecting means adjacent the inlet for fluidly connecting the nozzle to the tube and material retaining means associated with the outlet for retaining material within the nozzle but allowing material to be dispensed in response to application of pressure to the tube. The connecting means may be any suitable means for fluidly connecting the nozzle to the tube. Typically, tubes for use with the dispensing nozzle of the present invention have an external screw thread. Also, typically, the connecting means includes a corresponding threaded portion for threadably connecting the nozzle to the tube.
The retaining means may also be any suitable means capable of retaining the material within the bore and tube under normal circumstances but allowing material to be expelled from the nozzle in response to application of pressure to the tube. It will be appreciated that the type of retaining means may be modified, depending upon the viscosity of the material to be dispensed. In a preferred form of the invention, the retaining means includes a double-crossed cut seal of silicon or other similarly pliant material suitable for use in an injection molding machine, such seal projecting across the bore. Other types of retaining means that may be suitable include a series of vertical and horizontal barriers within the bore, a screen or grid, with corresponding pliant coverings, a valve or the like.
It is generally preferable by users to be able to store tubes such as toothpaste tubes in a vertical manner. Accordingly, it is preferred that the dispensing nozzle include a base portion such that when the tube is not in use, the nozzle, with the tube connected, can rest on or in the base member. Typically, the base member includes a recess complementary to the nozzle for receiving the nozzle therein. The dispensing nozzle of the present invention can dispense the flowable material when pressure is applied to the tube. Pressure is typically applied to such tubes manually. As discussed above, however, this can lead to uneven and unsightly deformation of the tube and/or dead spots within the tube from which material cannot be dispensed. Accordingly, it is preferred that the dispensing nozzle of the invention be also used in association with the consolidator, as previously described.
It is preferable, with the present invention, for the nozzle to be removably connected to the tube so when the tube is emptied, the nozzle can be washed and connected to a fresh tube.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism that can neatly and securely hold and conveniently organize a tube or tubes of flowable substances and at the same time provide a means for more easily and conveniently using the tube as the dispensing apparatus such as it was clearly designed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toda that can be easily and inexpensively manufactured from various plastic materials using injection-molding equipment and the dual injection molding process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toda that conveniently presents the tube yet requires minimal space requirements.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a toda that relieves the user of the burden of having to repeatedly remove and replace or open and close the cap.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toda that has a nozzle that will fit any toothpaste tube and most other tubes of like size.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toda that has a nozzle that provides a hard surface beneath the shoulder of the tube (the tube seat) such that when the tube appears to be empty, the consumer may press the bottom portion of the tube against said surface thereby expelling the last of the flowable substance through the dispensing end of the tube.